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Has anyone done them ? Trans alps seems a bit more pro/semi kind of people which I'm not .
Met a guy on Marin Roughride who'd done rockies and wasn't really impressed - is it just him maybe or not that inspiring ?
Do the Transalps. Less travelling, better food.
Unless you live in the US of course.
I've only done the Transrockies so cant compare the two but it was an awesome experience. Truly in the wilderness - no mobile reception for 3 days, other days patchy. Wasn't the best for singletrack but on such long days you can do with a break! Loads of ordinary people but enough pros to be inspriring.
Given you stay in towns for transalp I imagine it would have quite a different feel?
It really depends what you want from it! We decided to do the Rockies because if we were going to do all that training and take two weeks off work we may as well go somewhere we hadnt been and make it epic.
The others to look at which I have heard good things about are BC bike race and the Cape epic
I'd prefer the Rockies for the outdoory bit I think, and the fact that it has mortal people doing it too.
Mistercrud- do 'normal' fit riders do Trans alps or is it just sponsored type teams?
Will check out BC/CAPE too!
I have done the Transalp route with three friends. Best ever MTB'ing ive done, the route is awesome, if you like climbing. The problem was finding somewhere to kip at night, lucky it was August and hot!!
If your doing the race this will not be a problem. 😀
I've done the transalp and my partner for the transalp went on to do the transrockies. He said that the transrockies was more of a wilderness experience but that large parts of it were more of a slog.
try this it....... http://www.adventurerace.com/eng/english.php Hell of an experience!
[url= http://www.bcbikerace.com ]BC Bike Race[/url]
I'd lean towards the BC bike race - more singletrack!
BC Bike Race is definitely the one if you want the most singletrack, but withthe current exchange rate is hugely expensive (add in flights and accomodation either side of the event and you're not looking at much change out of £2k).
Cape Epic has limited singletrack, but I believe the organisation is second to none. It wins awards each year for the quality of its event organisation, not just in terms of MTB events but global sporting events. Event is about £600 but you'll have to enter the lottery to get a place for 2010's race.
Trans-Alp will work out the cheapest simply because travel costs are much less, but you do have the disadvantage of sleeping in scout huts and the like, and having to watch Fritz lube his backside first thing in the morning....
There's always the one no-one mentions - the seven day Ironbike Italy/France. Technical singletrack, fabulous scenery, but surreal levels of brutality.
olaf....nice description. I'm doing IronBike this year! 🙂
Forget all this nancy stuff though..what about the Great Divide!?
Cape Epic - a roadie mate has done a few of these big events, including Trans Alp and Trans Rockies, but he didn't finish the Cape Epic due to too much riding on sand IIRC.
you want to do the Gap-Monaco instead 😀
[url] http://www.trans-provence.com/ [/url]
You get the best of both 😀
so want to do that, it just doesn't fit in timing wise for me 🙁
i'm just going to do a week a TrailAddiction instead 🙂
There are loads of people who things pretty easy (eg. stopping for coffee and strudel) at Transalp, so I wouldn't worry about everyone being 'semi-pro'. It's a fabulous event, but the fire-road/tarmac content is quite high. But that doesn't seem to affect the overall feeling you get from the fact you're taking part in a huge event.
vdubber - Ironbike is quite spectacular. At TA you're riding 4-5hrs a day. At IB it's more like 9-11. There's no 'downtime'. It's just get in, shower, eat, sleep, up at 5am. And try and get as much of your bike into your tent as possible. Mine was stolen from right outside during the night before the final stage.
Agree with Olaf about IronBike, surreal levels of brutality - couldn't put it better myself. Very hard, but hugely rewarding.
Presume you raced in 2008 Olaf? Can't see you on the results, but bikes disappeared the night before the final stage, while we all huddled in our tents during a violent thunderstorm. Having said that, some of the other racers said they'd had bikes stolen on TA or on Cape Epic too - just a hazard of stage racing unfortunately 🙁
Food for thought there . Is it easy to get the route plan of the Transalps then without actually being in the event ? And is it doable without riding through gardens etc. I think I'd prefer it like this and I wouldn't see Fritz lubing his arse either 😆
you could snag a road book off someone who's done it before. Basically, this will tell you to turn left/right at the tree/bridge/junction after 2.3km.
Or get hold of Transalp race director Uli Stanciu's great book, and put together your own route using the software. You print out the route directions which are exactly the same format as a TA roadbook. It's in German, but you can work it all out.